Stockline curtain for blast furnace



Aug- 4, 1964 E, M. KATCHMAR AE-ru. 3,143,586

STOCKLINE CURTAIN FOR BLAST FURNACE Filed April 17, 1962 EDWARD M. KATCHMARa/ld WILL/AM STANFORD By We United States Patent O 3,143,586 STCKLINE CURTAIN FR BLAST FURNACE Edward M. Katchmar, 10909 Ave. C, Chicago, Ill., and William Stanford, 314 Cleveland St., Gary, Ind. Filed Apr. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 188,127 4 Claims. (Cl. 266-31) The present invention relates generally to blast furnaces of the type used for producing pig iron and more particularly to an improved protective curtain for the stockline zone of the refractory linings of such furnaces.

Conventional blast furnaces are constructed with a metallic shell lined with refractory. The top of the furnace is provided with a hopper and a large bell whereby raw materials are charged into the furnace. The raw materials are first dumped into the hopper onto the large bell which closes the bottom of the hopper. The bell is then lowered to open the hopper and permit the raw Inaterials to drop into the interior of the furnace. As the raw materials drop from the hopper they are deiiected by the bell outwardly against the upper portion of the inner face of the refractory lining of the furnace. This upper portion of the refractory lining is known as the stockline zone. The 'deflection of the raw materials against the stockline zone during charging of the furnace causes rapid wear of this portion of the furnace lining unless protective wear-resistant shields are provided. Prior to our invention such shields were in the form of metallic plates each having a short downwardly turned flange at one end and a short upwardly turned flange at its other end. The plates were imbedded in rows between adjacent horizontal courses of refractory in the stockline zone of the furnace lining around the inner periphery of the lining with their downturned ends overlaying a course of refractory. Thus, the downturned end flanges of the plates in each row protected the refractory brick lining from the abrasive action of the raw material falling upon it.

There were serious disadvantages inherent in this prior art practice of protecting the furnace lining, for example, a large number of plates were required to provide even minimum protection to the furnace lining. The large number of plates required together with the fact that each plate had to be individually handled when building the stockline zone lining made the lining operation more time consuming and costly. Also, the aggregate weight of the plates was disproportionally large compared to the portion of each plate actually providing protection to the lining. Another serious disadvantage arose from the fact that the insertion of numerous plates between the horizontal courses of the stockline zone prevented a solid bond of the refractory in this area of the lining. Further, when the lining below the bottom row of plates v eroded sufficiently to loosen the plates, the remainder of the lining thereabove was loosened and frequently disintegrated.

It is, accordingly, the primary object of our invention to provide an improved stockline zone protective curtain for a blast furnace lining which is made up of metal plates overlying the inner face of the stockline zone including a single row of plates imbedded in the stockline zone refractory adjacent the upper end thereof and rows of plates suspended from the single row but not imbedded in the refractory.

It is another object of our invention to provide a protective curtain as set forth by the object above wherein the major portions of the surfaces of the metal plates are utilized to protect the furnace lining.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a protective curtain of lthe character set forth in the above bjects wherein the suspended plates are supported in a unique manner which prevents buckling of the curtain due to expansion of the plates.

Patented Aug. 4, V1964 ice These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a partial vertical sectional view of a blast furnace having the curtain of the invention installed therein;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the curtain of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail View of a portion of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspectvie view showing a plate of the curtain of the invention and the manner in which it is suspended.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, reference numeral 2 'designates generally a blast furnace having an outer metallic shell 4, a refractory lining 6, a hopper 8 and large bell 10. The stock line zone of the refractory lining 6 is designated 12.

The structure thus far described is conventional and is not claimed as our invention, the details of which will now be described.

The protective curtain of the invention is designated generally by reference numeral 14 and is composed of three horizontal rows 16, 18 and 20 of metal plates which extend circumferentially around and overlay the inner face of the stockline zone of the furnace lining.

The plates in the top row 16 are angular in shape, each having a horizontal leg 22, a long vertical leg 24 depending normal to one end of the horizontal leg, and a short vertical flange 26 projecting upwardly normal to the opposite end of the horizontal leg. Legs 24 overlay the upper` portion of the inner face of the stockline zone. Each of the vertical legs 24 is provided with a generally rectangular opening 28 therethrough adjacent its bottom end.

The intermediate row 18 is made up of metal plates 30 each of which is rectangular in plan and provided with a generally rectangular opening 32 therethrough adjacent its bottom end. The upper end of each of the intermediate plates 30 is provided with a centrally located offsettongue 34 projecting upwardly therefrom.

The bottom row 20 is comprised of metal plates 36 veach of which is rectangular in plan. An upwardly provthe furnace shell 4 at the -top of the stock line zone of the furnace lining. Bracket 42 provides a support shelf on which the horizontal legs 22 of the top row plates are seated with the vertical legs 24 extending downwardly over the inner face of the stockline zone. A lock ring 44 made up of arc segments is disposed on the horizontal legs 22 of the top row plates bearing against the upturned flanges 26 thereby `securing the top row plates in place. The top courses of the stockline zone of the furnace lining are laid on the support bracket 42 and the horizontal legs 22 so that the top row plates are firmly anchored.

The offset-tongue 34 of each intermediate row plate is inserted through the rectangular opening 28 of the adjacent top so that when the intermediate row plate assumes vertical position overlaying the inner face of the stockline zone, the weight of the intermediate row plate causes the end portion of the offset-tongue 34 to engage the portion of the adjacent top row plate immediately above the rectangular opening 28 while the intermediate portion of the offset-tongue 34 is supported in the rectangular opening thereby providing a releasable connection between the top row and intermediate row plates. All of the plates 3 of the intermediate and bottom rows of the curtain 1 4 -are hung in this manner from the next above aligned plate.

The bottom row plates 36 are secured to a ring 46 by means of bolts 48 which extend through bolt holes 40 in the bottom edges of plates 36 and suitable bolt holes in the ring 46 thereby holding the bottom plates 36 in fixed alignment.

The openings 28 and 32 are larger than the cross-sectional areas of the offset-tongues 34 and 38, respectively, to provide clearance so expansion of the plates due to heat will not result in buckling of the curtain. As best shown in FIGURE 2, the vertical rows of plates are spaced apart laterally to also provide clearance for expansion and prevent buckling. Y v

Thus, the arrangement of the invention provides a rigid protective curtain for` the stockline zone of a blast furnace lining to protect it from the shock and abrasive action of the falling raw material being charged into the furnace. The unique manner in which the curtain of the invention is supported eliminates any detrimental effect on the bonding of the refractory in the stockline zone. The novel support arrangement for the wear plates of the curtain of the inventionl prevents loss of wear plates in the event there is any break-up or caving-in of the furnace lining. It will be obvious that the amount o f material, labor and time required for the installation of the curtain of the invention is considerably less than that required for protective shields of prior art design. The prior art shield described hereinabove required the use of 720 plates of high carbon'steel, each weighing approximately 138 pounds for a total weight of 99,360 pounds for typical blast furnace installation. For the same blast furnace, the curtain of the invention requires 60 plates of high carbon steel, each weighing approximately 475 pounds for a total weight of only y28,500 pounds. This results in a saving of approximately 70,860' pounds` or 351/2 tons of high carbon steel through the use of the curtain of the invention. The consequent savings in labor and time are obvious.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

l. In a blast furnace having an outer shell, and a refractory lining in said shell having a stockline zone on its inner face, the improvement therewith of a protective wear-resistant curtain for the stockline zone of said refractory lining which comprises a plurality of angularshaped metallic plates arranged in side-by-side relation circumferentially of the inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, each of said plates having a horizontal leg imbedded in said refractory lining and a vertical leg depending from said horizontal leg and overlaying the inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, each of said vertical legs having an opening therethroughiadjacent the bottom thereof, an elongated metallic plate having an offset-tongue end attached to and depending from the vertical leg of each of said angular plates, the offset-tongue ends of said elongated plates being inserted in the openings of said vertical legs, and a ring surrounding said elongated plates adjacent the bottoms thereof, said elongated plates being attached to said ring.

2. In a blast furnace having an outer shell, and a re-- fractory lining in said shell having a stockline zone on its vinner face, the improvement therewith of a protective wear-resistant curtain for the stockline zone of said refractory lining which comprises a plurality of angularshaped metallic plates arranged in side-by-side relation ircumferentially of the inner face of said refrGlOry lining in said stockline zone, each of said plates having a horizontal leg imbedded in said refractory lining and a vertical leg depending from said horizontal leg and overlaying the inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, the horizontal leg of each of said angular plates having an upturned portion on the end thereof remote from said vertical leg, a locking ring disposed on the horizontal legs of said angular-shaped plates and bearing against the upturned portions of said horizontal legs, said upturned portions and said locking ring being imbedded in said refractory lining with said horizontal legs, each of said vertical legs having an opening therethrough adjacent the bottom lthereof, Vand an elongated metallic plate having an offset-tongue end attached to and depending from the Vertical leg of each of said angular plates, the offset-tongue ends of said elongated plates being inserted in the openings of said vertical legs.

3. In a blast furnace having an outer shell, and a refractory lining in said shell having a stockline zone on its inner face, the improvement therewith of a protective wear-resistant curtain for the stockline zone of said refractory lining which comprises a support bracket attached to and projecting normal to the inner surface of said blast furnace shell coaxially therewith adjacent the top of the stockline zone of said refractory lining, a plurality of angular-shaped metallic plates arranged in sideby-side relation circumferentially of the inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, each of said plates having a horizontal leg imbedded in said refractory lining and a Vertical leg depending from said horizontal leg and overlaying the inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, the horizontal legs of said angular plates resting on and being supported by said support bracket, each of said vertical legs having an opening therethrough adjacent the bottom thereof, and an elongated metallic plate having an offset-tongue end attached to and ldepending from the vertical leg of each of said angular plates, the offset-tongue ends of said elongated plates being inserted in the openings of said Vertical legs.

4. In a blast furnace having an outer shell, and a refractory lining in said shell having a stockline zone on its inner face, the improvement therewith of a protective wear-resistant curtain for the stockline zone of said refractory lining which comprises `a plurality of angularshaped metallic plates arranged in side-by-side relation circumferentially of the inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, each of said plates having a horizontal leg imbedded in said refractory lining and a vertical leg depending from said horizontal leg and overlaying the'inner face of said refractory lining in said stockline zone, each of said vertical legs having an opening therethrough adjacent the bottom thereof, and an elongated metallic plate having an offset-tongue end attached to and depending from the vertical leg of each of said angular plates, the offset-tongue ends of said elongated plates being inserted in the openings of said vertical legs, the opening in the Vertical leg of each of said angular plates being larger than the cross-sectional area of the offset-tongue end inserted therein,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 505,538 Sheedy et al. Sept. 26, 1893 915,601 Hine et al Mar. 16, 1909 1,709,823 Kennedy Apr. 16, 1929 1,996,784 Zimmerman Apr. 9, 1935 2,486,348 Wehr Oct. 25, 1949 3,009,691 Tsujihata Nov. 2 1, 1,961 

1. IN A BLAST FURNACE HAVING AN OUTER SHELL, AND A REFRACTORY LINING IN SAID SHELL HAVING A STOCKLINE ZONE ON ITS INNER FACE, THE IMPROVEMENT THEREWITH OF A PROTECTIVE WEAR-RESISTANT CURTAIN FOR THE STOCKLINE ZONE OF SAID REFRACTORY LINING WHICH COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF ANGULARSHAPED METALLIC PLATES ARRANGED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF THE INNER FACE OF SAID REFRACTORY LINING IN SAID STOCKLINE ZONE, EACH OF SAID PLATES HAVING A HORIZONTAL LEG IMBEDDED IN SAID REFRACTORY LINING AND A VERTICAL LEG DEPENDING FROM SAID HORIZONTAL LEG AND OVERLAYING THE INNER FACE OF SAID REFRACTORY LINING IN SAID STOOCKLINE ZONE, EACH OF SAID VERTICL LEGS HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH ADJACENT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, AN ELONGATED METALLIC PLATE HAVING AN OFFSET-TONGUE END ATTACHED TO AND DEPENDING FROM THE VERTICAL LEG OF EACH OF SAID ANGULAR PLATES, THE OFF-SET TONGUE ENDS OF SAID ELONGATED PLATES BEING INSERTED IN THE OPENINGS OF SAID VERTICAL LEGS, AND A RING SURROUNDING SAID ELONGATED PLATES ADJACENT THE BOTTOMS THEREOF, SAID ELONGATED PLATES BEING ATTACHED TO SAID RING. 